How Fake News Can Impact Your SEO

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Do you remember the last time you started thinking about how to improve your business? It isn't always easy to know how to proceed, especially when you are up against things like timelines and big decisions. I wanted to create a culture of understanding at work, so I started talking with different coworkers about what we could do better. They really helped me to understand where we needed to go, and so I made changes that helped the business I work for to succeed. This website is all about understanding the needs of a growing business, even if you aren't an expert.

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SEO optimization is a life-long learning process. Search engines like Google are always looking for ways to optimize their search results. But there are several interesting events in 2017 that will impact SEO forever. As a business owner looking for ways to increase search traffic, you must be aware of these issues and ways that cafe SEO services can help you.

Autocomplete

Google has had pressure placed on it over the issue of fake news and over search engine suggestions that are considered offensive. The autocomplete for Google search is based on common searches made by users. Therefore, if users often type offensive keywords into a search engine, they might show up in the autocomplete.

While the autocomplete results will likely be cleaned up, the inoffensive results can be useful for anyone who is trying to optimize his or her website to receive traffic. By knowing what users are commonly searching for, you can come up with ideas for content and understand what your users want to know.

Fake News

Search engines have also taken heat for having fake news websites appear at the top of search engine results. Google will likely develop a flagging system that will identify websites that are known for promoting inaccurate information so these websites can be penalized through lower rankings in search engine results.

If you are generating content for you own website, you likely were already trying to produce high-quality content that is accurate. But in 2018, accuracy will likely be even more important.

Social Media

Besides potentially being penalized on search engines, if your website contains fake news, you may find that links to your articles on social media websites will come with a fake news tag. Google and Facebook have formed partnerships with fact-checking organizations.

Signs of Fake News

Content will likely be analyzed using artificial intelligence. There are also several other signals that Google might use to determine if a website is promoting fake news. Websites with a younger domain are much more likely to be promoting fake news.

Fake news websites also tend to have a higher ad-to-content ratio. Google already penalizes websites for having too many ads because it is an indicator of a poor-quality website. However, excessive advertisements may also indicate a fake news website.

Also, by linking to or being linked by fake news websites, you are more likely to be identified as part of a neighborhood of websites that promote fake news. But by producing great, fact-based content, you can avoid being penalized.